Keep Your Ideals

"Now that the organic food sector is moving through adolescence and into adulthood, the industry must not lose touch with the idealistic movement that gave birth to it, said David Lively, marketing director for the Organically Grown Co. cooperative.

"A big baby has grown into a strapping youth that still needs its mother," Lively said at the Oregon Tilth conference Jan. 18 in Salem, Ore.

Volume vs. virtue

Organic food is at a philosophical crossroads, and it's crucial that the industry doesn't sacrifice its values for the promise of larger acreage and a greater market share, he said.

"It seems to me that we can succeed and yet fail," Lively said, noting that abandoning core principles - like support for small farms - the industry would become a "soulless shell" of its former self.

Retaining integrity even as the industry becomes mainstream poses a dilemma for organic producers, especially now that large manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers are jumping into the market, according to Lively and other experts at the conference.

Not only are major companies launching their own organic lines, but they're also buying out existing organic brands. Lively sees the trend toward consolidation as dangerous."

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